Life is hell
by ILikeMovies
Summary: John is on top of the world until he returns home to his father and his father's friends. Five against one is not fair.
1. Chapter 1

John Bender was walking home after the eventful nine hours he had just spent at school, on a Saturday. He shoved his long hair behind his ear and with freezing fingers he felt the diamond ring he had just been given by Claire. A smile played across his face as he remembered the kiss he had shared with her before she got into her father's car and left.

The mention of the word father made him suddenly boil up with anger. He put his hand back in his pocket and stalked the final five minutes home silently preparing himself for inevitable confrontation he would have with the lame ass excuse of a father he had.

He cupped his leather clad hands over his mouth and blew warm breath into them. Shit. He was hungry. He hadn't had lunch, as usual, because his mother and father never bought food and the fridge at his house was only filled with beer. Every night his mother would make a sloppy meal and every morning he would eat dry toast or meet up with one of his friends before school and eat with them. His friends had never been to his house but they knew about his father, they had seen his scars and they never asked questions.

There it was. His run down, filthy house, right on the corner of the street. He sighed inwardly as he walked up the cracked paving leading to the front door. Giving his hair one final flip he opened the door and walked inside. He looked to his right and was greeted by the sight of his ugly ass father and a few of his friends playing poker on the dining room table.

His dad glanced up and spotted John. He took the shrinking cigar out of his mouth and took a chug of his beer before throwing it in a pile of other empty beer bottles. John ignored him and continued walking but was stopped in his tracks by his father's slurred words calling out a command. He walked back to the dining room and ignored the four other faces staring at him, instead staring his drunk father in the eyes.

"Yeah?" John asked, trying his hardest to keep the annoyance out of his voice.  
"Yo, go get us some more beer bottles and throw this shit in the trash. And get us some food."  
John usually complied to his father's commands but this time he found himself not replying, not moving, ignoring what his father had just asked of him. His father looked up and repeated,  
"Get us some food, boy. And I want you to clean up this god damn mess and get us some more beer."  
John remembered the conversation he had with the others at the detention that morning. They spoke about pressure, friends, conformity and parents. For some unknown reason the group of people he had barely ever payed attention to before had given him the courage to stand up to his father. Why the hell should he take his father's shit anymore?  
"No." John eventually replied.

His father was taken aback but after composing himself he asked,  
"What did you just say, boy?"  
"I said no."  
His father blushed in embarrassment of being disrespected by his pathetic son in front of his friends and his lips pursed together in anger. John didn't stick around any longer. He turned on his heels and ran to his bedroom trying to ignore his father's friend's giggles in the background. Shit, he would be in so much trouble later on.

He sat on his bed listening, waiting and ready for the beating that was sure to come. What felt like hours later he heard his father's footsteps nearing his door. The door was violently kicked open making John jump slightly. His father walked up to a nonchalant looking John, though on the inside he was about ready to explode, and picked him up roughly by his neck.

His father pushed John's head against the drywall, cracking it. He screamed at John,  
"Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can embarrass me in front of my friends? You God damn ungrateful, pathetic son of a bitch!"  
John smirked slightly and replied,  
"I don't think I can embarrass you in front of your friends. I already did embarrass you therefore I know I can do it. There's no uncertainty about it."

This comment warranted John a hard punch in the stomach. John held in a cry and for the first time in his life he punched his father back, hitting him on his nose. His father cried out in pain but soon overcame the agony with a new found rage.

He ran at a stunned John and punched him across the jaw. John hit back and that went on for ages until his father's friends came running into the room. They quickly ran to the two fighting men and John thought that maybe, just maybe, they would help him but, they didn't. Instead they each grabbed a limb and held John down as his father delivered blow after blow first to John's chest, then to John's stomach and finally to his head.

Ten minutes later his father was done and his friends dropped John to the floor and kicked him for emphasis before leaving his room, leaving him in a bloody, semi-conscious heap on the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi guys, forgot to mention in the previous chapter that I do not own any characters in this story other than John's father's friends.

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John lay motionless on the floor, not able to move and not wanting to move either. He struggled to breathe through his broken nose which forced him to take fast breaths through his slightly open mouth. Each breath sent shocks of pain through his battered ribcage and bruised stomach.

As he lay unmoving on his bedroom floor, John thought through what his next move would be. He was injured, badly. He had broken bones many times before and he had learnt how to tell when a bone was broken so he knew he had a few broken ribs, nose and probably a dislocated shoulder.

He needed help. He had nothing he could use to heal his broken bones at home and no money to buy any equipment or pills. His mother and father sure as hell would not drive him to the hospital, they couldn't care less about what condition he was in. He couldn't go to the hospital by himself, he had no money and no insurance.

He could ask one of his friends to hake him to the hospital, but who? Sure, they were all more than willing to give him a bed to sleep on occasionally or allow him in for breakfast none of them actually cared enough to help him through something this serious.

Besides, they were probably all sitting in someone's basement getting high or drunk at the moment. Then he remembered, Andrew. He knew where Andrew lived, he had walked past his house multiple times. After the day they had spent together he was sure Andrew would help him.

John slowly rolled from his back onto his side. The movement sent pain coursing through his body but he continued his attempt to stand. Using his good arm he pulled himself up onto all fours... Or all threes. The world was spinning and he blinked continuously to stop the spinning and clear his blurry vision.

He crawled to the wall of his room and using it as support he pulled himself to his feet. Leaning heavily on the wall he walked out his room and down the passage. He stumbled more than once but caught himself on the wall. He walked past the empty kitchen, past the empty living room but stopped as he neared the doorway that lead into the dining room.

He popped his head around the corner and found his father and his father's friends sitting at the table, laughing and talking about the beating they had just given his 'no good, son of a bitch, asshole son'. They were all looking away from the doorway so John grabbed the opportunity to run past the door and through the front door.

He walked down the stairs and began the slow, agonizing walk to Andrew's house until he reached the green grass and paved walkway leaving to Andrew's fancy house. John sighed in relief and staggered over to the front door. He looked at the driveway and took the lack of cars as a sign that Andrew's parents were not home.

He swallowed and rang the doorbell, suddenly regretting his decision to turn to the jock for help. Before he could even second guess himself or leave the porch Andrew opened the front door. He looked at John and his eyes widened in shock.

"Bender, what the hell happened? You look like shit. Are you okay?" Andrew asked, his brow furrowing to form a concerned frown.

John's world started spinning and his legs began wobbling. He gave a weak, lope sided smile as an answer to Andrews questions. He opened his mouth to try and explain but before he knew what was even happening his world started tipping and he was falling backwards. Andrew rushed forward to catch his friend but wasn't fast enough and could only watch in horror as his beaten and bruised friend fell to the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry everyone, for some reason my computer reposted my first chapter. sorry. Once again, i do not own any of the characters in this story.

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Andrew watched as the criminal, John Bender fell in a bloody heap onto his porch. He was an absolute mess. Blood covered his face and matted his long, brown hair. Andrew placed John right arm over his muscular shoulders and pulled John to his feet, trying his hardest to ignore the desperate cries of pain coming from the injured teenager.

He supported John as he guided him up the stairs and to his bedroom. He gently lowered John onto the bed and stood motionless, watching the unsteady rise and fall of John Bender's chest. He asked,

"Bender, what the hell happened to you?"

John didn't seem to hear him and instead clutched his right arm protectively over his ribs. After moments of awkwards silence Andrew tried again,

"Bender, did your father do this to you?"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner."

"Why did you come to me? You need a hospital. I don't have medical training, I don't know how the hell to help you."

"Sporto, no doctors, okay?"

Andrew sighed in annoyance and sat down on the bed next to John. He looked at John's blood covered trench coat and said,

"I think you should take the coat off."

Bender nodded and weakly attempted to prop himself onto his Elbows. Andrew noticed that John Bender's left arm hung uselessly at his side. He stood up and carefully helped John Bender take off his coat. Afterwards he helped Bender take off his denim jacket.

He sighed as he wondered what to do next. He finally started helping Bender take off his flannel shirt and finally his old thermal top. He had to hold in a gasp when he saw the dark black and blue bruises forming on John's chest and abdomen. His gaze travelled further up until it met his left shoulder. The should was at an awkward angle and bruising was starting to form around it.

Andrew nervously scratched his head and ran his fingers through his soft hair. He rememberEd watching the medic on the wrestling team check for broken ribs on a wrestler by gently feeling each one individually. He shrugged and figured it was worth a shot.

He made his way to Bender's side and was alarmed to see that he was barely conscious. Andrew decided it was best to check Bender's ribs while he was fading in and out of consciousness as it might just make the pain more bearable.

He reached his shaky hands over to Bender's bruised chest and started checking his ribs one at a time. The first rib felt fine but the second rib moved under his touch and it brought the semi lucid Bender back to full awareness, making him grunt in pain. Andrew continued his examination of Bender's ribs and with each new broken rib, Bender's cries grew louder and louder.

Andrew counted seven broken ribs, he just hoped he was wrong. He moved onto Bender's shoulder and helped Bender into a position that would be suitable for the realigning of his shoulder. Andrew grabbed Bender's disocated shoulder and pushed it back into place with a sickening pop. Bender screamed and his breathing increased.

"Sorry, Bender. I'm sorry. It'll be better soon, okay?"

"I'm not five, Sporto. That just hurt a shit load."

Andrew smirked at Bender's defensive comment but his smile faded as he watche d Bender suddenly double over and vomit on the floor, over and over. Once Bender was done Andrew's eyes grew wider with concern. The majority of the vomit consisted of a dark red blood.

Andrew ran down the stairs and called the only person he knew he could count on to help.

"Claire, it's Andrew. Listen, Bender is injured, badly. Come to my house. I will explain later. Just come fast and bring Brian."

He ran back up the stairs, jumping up three at a time, and ran into the room. He sat on the bed next to an unconscious Bender and waited anxiously for Claire to arrive.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys. Thank you to Because I Can and I Will for reviewing, following and picking my story as a favorite. Thank you to Heatherlina for following me. As always, I do not own any of the characters in this story.

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Claire Standish and Brian Johnson arrived at Andrew's house within minutes. Claire anxiously knocked on the front door until Andrew opened it and welcomed her and Brian in. He quietly led them to the living room and motioned for them to take a seat.

Claire sat on the edge of the couch and her worry was starting to turn into impatience. She looked up at Andrew and asked,

"What's wrong? What's happened?"

Andrew took a moment's hesitation to contemplate how to tell Claire. Eventually he looked her in the eyes and replied,

"John showed up on my doorstep beaten to a pulp. I helped him inside and he's upstairs in my room. He's really hurt but he refuses to go to a hospital. He says he has no insurance, no money and he doesn't want hospital staff asking questions about how he got hurt. I was hoping that you guys would be able to either help me take care of him, especially you Brian because your father is a doctor so you might know a few tricks of the trait, or convince him to allow us to take him to a hospital."

Claire and Brian sat in a stunned silence but eventually Brian said,

"Where is your room? Lets go and help our friend."

Andrew led a sobbing Claire and muttering Brian up to his room where John Bender lay, hopefully still unconscious. When they walked into the room Claire's face paled at the sight of the teenage boy she had just kissed, who seemed so strong before but was now just a bloody, unmoving, helpless boy. She ignored the bloody vomit and sat on the bed next to John, lovingly stroking his black and blue chest.

Brian, on the other hand, stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the bloody vomit that was at the base of Andrew's bed. He looked up at Andrew and whispered so that the distraught Claire wouldn't hear,

"I think he's bleeding internally. I'm guessing from his abdomen judging by the black bruising covering it."

Andrew's eyes widened and he looked over at John who appeared to be regaining consciousness. Brian knelt down next to John, avoiding the vomit, and said,

"Listen, man, you are in desperate need of medical attention and no one here can offer that to you. You should go to a hospital, you really need to."

John swallowed before answering with slurred words,

"No. No money. No insurance."

Andrew and Claire both jumped in and reassured him,

"Don't worry about any of that. Let us worry, okay?"

"No."

"Either this or you die." Brian stated.

John looked away from the three waiting faces and after seconds of silence he reluctantly agreed. Claire ran down the stairs and started her father's BMW while Brian and Andrew slowly lifted the injured Bender to his feet.

Andrew supported him down the narrow stairs while Brian walked behind them. Halfway down the stairs John started coughing uncontrollably. Each new cough causing his face to grow redder, his eyes widen in pain and the tears to flow more freely. Andrew and Brian watched helplessly as John began coughing blood.

Eventually John's coughing ceased and he fell unconscious, becoming dead weight on Andrew's shoulders. The jock wasn't expecting this and when John suddenly became unconscious both he and Andrew went tumbling the rest of the way down the carpeted stairs.

Andrew quickly got to his feet and called Brian over for help as they lifted the unmoving John to his feet. Each of them took an arm and slung it over the shoulders. They carried him out to the car and lay him across the back seat. Andrew sat in the front and Brian sat in the back with John's head on his lap while Claire drove.

The silence in the car was interrupted by a soft whimpering and sniffling. Brian looked down at the now conscious John and his eyebrows furrowed in shock.

Claire kept driving but asked impatiently,

"Brian, what's wrong? Is John okay?"

Brian didn't reply so Andrew turned around in his seat to see what was causing the injured teenager to moan like that. His jaw dropped when he saw that the whimpering was only a result of John's pain filled sobs.

He looked at Brian and both shared the exact same thought,

What the hell? The one and only John Bender, the criminal, the tough guy, was crying in the back seat.

His tears falling down his cheeks caused streaks of skin appear from underneath the blood on his face.

John suddenly and unexpectedly pulled himself to a sitting position, gasping from the pain it caused him, and looked around the car frantically. Brian placed a hand on his shoulder and asked,

"John, John. What's wrong?"

John's searching become more and more frantic. He eventually looked at Brian and through his laboured breathing and soft sobs he said,

"Where's Claire? I want Claire." His voice began cracking, breaking the hearts of everyone in the car as he continued desperately begging, "Please, please. I need Claire."

Claire stopped the car and told Andrew to drive. She got out of the car and swapped seats with Brian. She sat in the back and pulled the sitting John back down, gently cradling his upper body in her arms while whispering soothingly,

"I'm here John. I'm here, always. It's okay. It's okay, I'm here for you."

She repeated those words over and over as she stared into the clouded, differently dilated, brown eyes belonging to John Bender.

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okay, everyone. That is chapter four. If you do happen to review please be gentle, this is my first attempt at a fanfic. I just want to explain that John was crying as a result of the concussion(proven by his differently dilated pupils) because I hear that concussions can make one rather emotional. he's also in a lot of pain, disorientated and confused. So there is the justification of his crying.

Thank you for reading. Will update soon. Please forgive my mistakes, I don't plan chapters, I just write them whenever I have a few free minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi guys. I want to thank piperdash, mystorriessuck, helinahandcart, bjklint1 and Because I Can and Will, and another anonymous guest for reviewing, following or favoriting. Thanks guys.

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Fifteen minutes later Claire, Andrew, Brian and a semi-conscious John arrived at the hospital. Brian and Andrew supported John on either side while Claire walked closely behind, ready to catch him if he fell. The small walk to the front doors of the hospital left the injured John panting painfully for breath.

Once inside the hospital Claire ran to the front desk and ordered more than asked,

"We need a doctor immediately. My... Boyfriend is badly injured!"

The nurse at the front table did nothing in response but frown. Claire started getting angry and to prove her point she moved to the side and pointed a groaning John being held up by the two other boys, covered in blood, to the nurse.

The nurse gasped and paged a doctor immediately. Within seconds a middle aged doctor with greying hair sprinted through the doors. He took one look at John and paged for nurses to bring a gurney. The nurses were at the doctors side in seconds and they took the now unconscious John from Brian an Andrew and gently lowered him onto a gurney.

The nurses rolled the gurney into an operating room while the doctor asked the three friends a few questions.

"What happened to him?"

Andrew, Brian and Claire looked at each other nervously. They knew they couldn't tell the doctor about John's father without sending John to a foster home. The doctor took the silence that followed his question as a hint and moved on,

"What has is condition been since he was injured."

Andrew answered straight away in a rushed tone,

" He's been in a lot of pain. He's fallen unconscious three times and he vomited blood, coughed it up too."

The doctor nodded and ran into the operating room where John was.

The three friends sat down in the waiting room and waited in absolute silence for a few minutes until Andrew exclaimed,

"Shit! Allison should be here too!"

Brian and Claire nodded in agreement while Andrew went to the front desk to ask if he could use a telephone to call 'a family member who needs to be here with us'.

Five minutes later Allison came running into the waiting room. She sat down across from the other three and asked in a hushed voice,

"What the hell happened to him?"

Andrew whispered back,

"His father beat the shit out of him. He came to my house, vomited blood, I called Claire and we used her car to get him here."

Allison sat back in silence, taking the new information in. Eventually she asked,

"Did you tell them that his father did that to him?"

"No, we can't. John doesn't want us to. He doesn't want to go into foster care." Claire replied sadly.

"Can't someone here take him in? Someone's parents?"

The four sat in silence as they all considered the suggestion from Allison. The silence was broken by Claire saying,

"My parents would never allow it. He's a boy, they would never want me living with a boy. But I guess I could still ask. "

Brian nodded thoughtfully then agreed,

"We should all ask."

The next hour was filled with the four calling their parents and telling them where they were and the pairs of parents all arriving at the waiting room. Once everyone's parents were there Andrew took the opportunity to explain,

"John, one of our best friends, is in the operating room. His father and a few of his father's friends beat him up. He arrived on the front porch of our house and I took him up to my room. Claire and Brian helped me bring him to the hospital."

The parents all sat in a shocked silence until Claire's father asked,

"So why are we here?"

Brian stood up and answered,

"John doesn't want us telling the doctors that his father did this to him because he doesn't want to be taken into foster care. But, we don't want him to go back to that house where this kind of thing could happen again."

Claire stood next to Brian and continued,

"So, we thought we would ask you guys if one of us could take him in. Let him live with us."

Brian's mother frowned and asked,

"What about the mother?"

"She is just as bad as the father." Andrew stated.

Claire nodded and repeated,

"So, can anyone, including us dad, take him in?"

The parents all began shouting in unison. A nurse came in and asked them to keep the volume down. Brian asked his parents,

"Mom, dad, can we?"

His parents looked at him then at each other before his father replied,

"No, son. I'm sorry. We can't, we don't know him, we don't have space for him unfortunately."

Brian slumped down in a chair and looked at the floor. He looked up again to see his mother motioning for him to sit with her. He hesitantly walked over and sat down. For the first time in ages his mother hugged him and whispered,

"I'm sorry."

Allison stood up and asked her parents,

"What about us?"

"Ally, honey, no sorry."

She stomped her foot on the ground and began walking to a chair on the other side of the room. Her patents didn't care about her anyway, they didn't pay any attention to her. But then, her father called her over and she sat between them while her mother, for the first time in ages held Allison's cold hand and her father gently rubbed her on the back. Allison smiled and thought, well this is new.

Claire sat down next to her father and asked,

"Could we, daddy?"

Her dad swallowed nervously and hugged Claire tightly while replying,

"Sorry pumpkin but no. He's a boy, I don't know him. I'm sorry but, just no."

Claire nodded and allowed her father to gently run his hand through her red hair.

Andrew stood up and asked,

"What about us?"

His parents looked at each other and his mother motioned for him to sit by her. He walked over and sat down while she put her hand on his leg and his father, unexpectedly, put his arm around Andrew's broad shoulders. His mother looked at him and asked,

"Is he a nice boy?"

"A little rough on the outside but you learn to love him."

His mother and father looked at each other and his father said,

"Well, I guess we could give it a try."

Andrew smiled widely and embraced both parents in a hug.

At that moment a doctor walked into the waiting room. It was John's doctor and he sat down next the the four children being hugged by their parents. When he sat down the all looked up at him expectedly. He sighed and began,

"The patient was in bad shape. The first thing we paid attention to was the internal bleeding in his abdomen. It took a while but we managed to fix it. Next we moved onto his ribs. He has seven broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung. That was very worrying but we did manage to fix that right up too. He will be in a considerable amount of pain for the next few weeks, and breathing, laughing or even coughing will be extremely painful. His shoulder was bruised as a result of a dislocated shoulder but it appears as though one of you relocated it, so he will just need to wear a sling for a week. His nose is broken so he will have trouble breathing for a few weeks, especially since you accompany his broken nose with his broken ribs."

He paused to let everyone take in the new information before continuing,

"He had a large gash on his forehead that bled a considerable amount. We stitched it up but he will have a scar. He had a severe concussion but that should be okay within a week or two."

Everyone nodded and the doctor added,

"These injuries were the result of a severe, severe beating. Injuries to such an extent worry me and I'm obligated by the doctor's moral code to get the police involved if I believe that any abuse at home is occurring. In this case, I do believe that so I called the police. They want to question you and my patient once he is awake."

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I think there will only be one or two more chapters after this. Thank you for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

I would like to thank flyfeather05 and stormblade3 for reviewing, following or favoriting. thanks guys. This chapter is relatively slow but is a necessity in order for the story to finish in the way I intend for it to.

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The police came walking through the door that led into the waiting room where Brian, Allison, Andrew, Claire and their parents were seated with the doctor. The doctor stood up and nodded curtly to the group of teenagers before following one officer outside. Four other police officers split up and walked to a teenager and their parents.

Brian's police officer smiled a greeting and sat down next to him and his confused parents. The middle aged officer cleared his throat and asked,

"We have reason to believe that Mr Bender is suffering abuse at home. Have you, by any chance, been shown any evidence proving this?"

"Yes." Brian answered quietly. "He showed us a scar once. It was a cigar burn from when he spilt paint in the garage. His father got mad then, well, John suffered the unfortunate consequences. Then, of course, now."

Meanwhile Allison's sat with her tense parents as a young, good looking police officer walked up to them and sat down. He nervously loosened his collar and began,

"I'm officer O'Hara. I want to talk to you about Mr Bender's injuries and his home life."

Allison nodded but, as expected, said nothing. The officer ran his hand through his dark brown hair and continued,

"Do you have any idea what may have caused his injuries?"

"Yes. His father."

Andrew sat in between his mother and father while the police officer asked him questions.

"We have reason to believe the father abuses Mr John Bender, what about the mother?"

"She's also just as God damn bad, the bitch."

Claire had finished her interrogation and the officer got up, quietly smiling his thanks for answering his questions. Claire stood up quickly and asked,

"Where are you going now?"

"To question Mr John Bender."

"I'm coming with you!"

"No. Sorry but this is a private interrogation."

"I need to be there for support and I'm not taking no as an answer, so lead the way officer."

The officer sighed and reluctantly started walking down the corridor with Claire closely following behind him. He stopped outside a wooden door with the numbers 316 on it and he knocked on it softly while opening the door. No one was inside except for John. Claire was relieved to see that he was conscious but he barely seemed to register that he had company in the room. She pushed past the police officer and sat on the bed next to John. He winced as her weight pushed down on the thin mattress but he looked up and smiled at her nonetheless.

The officer stood at the foot of the bed and shot a quick glance at Claire before saying,

"Mr Bender, I'm officer Corr..."

John sat up straighter in his bed and stared at Claire with a look of betrayal on his face. He said with a hoarse voice,

"You called the cops? But I said I didn't want cops involved."

Claire shook her head defiantly and contradicted,

"No, I swear. None of us did! The doctor called the police."

John nodded wearily before looking at the doctor and saying,

"Look, as much as I appreciate the help you were willing to offer, I don't want police involved."

Claire's eyes widened and she moved closer to John so that she could whisper in his ear,

"John, you don't need to worry about foster care. Trust me when I tell you that we have all that sorted out. There is nothing you need to worry about, okay? Just please, please answer the officer's questions. Please I'm begging you."

John frowned and swallowed anxiously. He adjusted his position in the hospital bed while telling the police officer to continue with his 'dumb-ass interrogation'.

The officer smirked and asked,

"Mr Bender..."

"No man, call me John. Mr Bender is my son of a bitch father."

"Okay, John. The doctor suspects that you are suffering with abuse at home. Is this true?"

John cleared his throat and Claire gave him a reassuring smile as he answered,

"Yes, it is."

"Who abuses you? Your mother, father, siblings?"

"My old man and mother. I don't have any siblings."

"Would you be willing to testify in a court of law against your father and mother?"

"Gladly."

"If the jury finds your parents guilty you will be put into the foster care system, okay?"

Andrew strode in just as the police officer stated that and he disagreed,

"No. He won't. He's going to stay with my family, my parents will fill out the forms or whatever else it is you need them to do. Now, John has gone through enough for one day so maybe, Officer, you should leave him be for now."

The officer nodded and walked out the room while staring at Andrew with a look of anger playing across his dark features. Andrew sat on the bed next to John and Claire, trying to ignore the looks of gratefulness coming from both of them. Awkward silence followed but was interrupted by John saying,

"Did you just say I could stay with you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Why? You hated me until this morning."

"Yes but you really have made an impression on me, on all of us."

John pushed himself off the pillows, wincing as the action pulled at his broken bones and new operation incisions closed by stitches, and hugged a shocked Andrew with his right arm.

Andrew hesitantly returned the hug and smiled humbly as John said,

"Sporto, you are a freaking rock star! Thank you."

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One more chapter after this then I can move onto my next story!


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to everyone for reviewing, favoriting or following! I promise I will try to improve on my next stories. Anyway, here is the last chapter. Also, I do not own any characters in this story, blah blah blah

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The next few days went by at the speed of light. More police officers came and went, asking for statements and delivering subpoenas. Within six days John was allowed to leave the hospital provided her abstained from any strenuous physical activity and came to the hospital every few days for a check up from the doctor.

Mr and Mrs Clark came by the hospital with Andy to pick John up and take him back to their house where they had prepared a guest room for him. The days leading up to the trial were at first, awkward but once Mr Clark realized how much John enjoyed pulling pranks they began building a somewhat immature relationship.

Mrs Clark had developed a soft spot for John from the first day she saw him lying in the hospital bed. John was withdrawn at first and reluctant to accept any help or love from either parent but he began to accept it slowly. Andrew and John bickered occasionally but they spent almost all of their time together, watching television, playing video games or eating.

John was allowed to take his sling off after just three days out of the hospital but his movements were still limited, as too much exertion sent pain coursing through his beaten body. The bruising and swelling in his face had diminished slightly and he was starting to look a little like his old self again.

After one week at the Clark's it was time for John's parents' trial. Mrs Clark went out and returned with a new suit for both John and Andrew. John went to his new room and slowly, painfully got dressed while Andrew easily put on the suit, gelled back his hair and adjusted his tie. He walked to John's room and knocked softly on the door while saying,

"Hey, Bender, are you ready?"

When no answer came from inside the room Andrew opened the door to find John staring at himself in the mirror, trying his hardest to make his tie but to no avail whatsoever. Andrew walked into the room and without saying anything else he began helping John with his tie.

He looked worriedly at John and asked,

"Are you ready for this, mentally?"

John swallowed and, in his typical smart ass tone of voice, he replied,

"Do I look like an invalid. I'm 'mentally' prepared for this, Sporto."

Andrew smiled and walked with John downstairs to where Mr and Mrs Clark were waiting by the front door. Once they made it down the stairs the four of them walked to Mr Clark's car and drove to the courthouse in a tense silence.

In the courthouse the Clarks sat down in the spectators section while John walked to the front of the courtroom meeting up with the lawyer who has been assigned to him by the state. Andrew watched from his seat as John lowered himself into his seat and tapped his foot nervously as he waited for the judge and his parents to enter the courtroom.

When John's parents walked in John turned his head slightly and when he spotted his father he stood up quickly and his dad tried to release himself from the grasp that one of the security guards had on him. John punched his fist on the table and screamed,

"You son of a bitch!"

His father tried to pull away from the guard while screaming loudly,

"Johnny boy, you really are a freaking pile of shit, you worthless asshole, no good son."

Just then the judge walked into the room and everyone quietened leaving the room in silence with nothing but the sound of John's father still struggling against the guard's firm grip. Over the next hour all of John's witnesses were taken to the stand and gave statements proving John's father's guilt. When John went up he was asked to give a few accounts of the multiple times he had been abused and, to add a cherry on top, show the resultant scars to the courtroom. The doctor went up and told the courtroom of John's condition when he was brought into hospital. His statement was accompanied by a slide show with photographs the police had taken of John's bruised stomach, ribs, shoulder and face. The doctor then called John up to show the rest of the courtroom his barely healed injuries in order to prove his point.

When John's father went up his lawyer began asking questions to which his father replied with rehearsed lines, claiming his innocence and instead putting all the blame on John. Eventually John had had enough of hearing all these false accusations and he stood up quickly and shouted,

"You dickhead! You are a lying shit!"

His father couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had been able to get a rise out of his son so he continued,

"Oh, am I? Really John? You have been lying this whole time! You tried to beat up your mother and I so we only retaliated!"

"Bullshit!"

Despite his lawyers protests John walked over to the witness stand but was quickly pulled back by a guard. John struggled intensely against the guard's grip and shouted obscenities at his father who had also stood up and was screaming at his son, calling him names and saying things just to make John angry.

Finally the judge stood up and shouted loudly over the noise,

"That is ENOUGH! I have seen enough. The jury will be given time to come to a decision. Until then I don't want any more disturbances or I will personally see to it that both parties are punished severely!"

The jury and judge left the room while a distraught Claire and Andrew ran to the front and helped a pale John back to his seat. He sat down and gripped at his broken ribs, wincing in pain and trying to catch his breath again but never breaking the steely gaze he held with his father. Claire gently rubbed his back while Andrew wiped away the blood that had begun pouring from John's broken nose.

Five minutes later the jury and judge entered the courtroom who had remained silent. Claire and Andrew returned to their seats while John, his father, his mother and both lawyers stood up to hear the decision. The jury waited for the judge to take her seat before one of them announced,

"The jury has come to a unanimous decision. We, the jury, find Mark Bender and Joy Bender guilty on charges of child abuse."

The judge nodded and stood up announcing,

"I hereby sentence Mark and Joy Bender to two years in prison and a one hundred thousand dollar fine to be paid within twelve months."

The courtroom silently empties out leaving only John, the other four members of the breakfast club and John's patents being handcuffed by guards behind. John stared contemptibly at his parents as they were escorted put of the courtroom. Gone from his life forever. He smiled and watched as his four friends came running towards him. Claire kissed him while Allison, Andrew and Brian congratulated him.

They all linked arms and left the courtroom together while all thinking the same thought,

'In the space of two weeks the five of them had managed to build up a friendship stronger than any other relationship they had in life. A friendship they were willing to sacrifice for. And all it took was a nine hour detention.'

* * *

That's the last chapter! Thank you to everyone who read this. Sorry about the ending being a bit corny but, oh well.


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